Busting Childhood Food Myths

Read on to learn if those myths you bought into as a kid are actually true.

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Is The 5 Second Rule Real?

Kind of. Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urnbana-Champaign conducted a study on the five second rule. They swabbed the floors of their lab and were to surprised to find few germs. They then placed cookies and candy on tiles with E. coli and found that germ transfer did occur in under five seconds. However, the scientists say that pathogens like salmonella, E. coli and listeria survive better on moist surfaces and didn't conduct any tests on those.

According to Joy Bauer, a nutritionist, this myth began when people believed that caffeine could potentially lead to bone loss, but apparently the research behind that study only examined subjects with already low calcium intakes. Even if caffeine does interfere with the absorption of calcium, it does so only slightly. Just adding milk will offset that effect. However, coffee consumption should be limited in children for a variety of other reasons like stomach aches and insomnia.

Certain food sayings are almost universally taught to children -- things like not to double dip food, not to eat right before swimming and not to eat raw cookie dough. Beliefs like the "five second rule" are even picked up by adults! But are these true? Is it possible that it is really okay to eat raw cookie dough?